Schools Minister Jim Knight has set out the next steps to try and ensure every child has access to a home computer and the internet for their school or college work. He announced a £30.3m package to support the first year of Government’s long-term ambition to close the digital divide.
It includes year-long pilot scheme in Oldham and Suffolk; a quality-badge scheme for approved home access suppliers; and funding for local authorities to target specific groups of children currently without broadband or a computer at home.
The £300m programme, which was announced by the Prime Minister last month and goes nationwide next autumn, will make sure every five-to-18-year-old has home access. Currently around a million children still do not have access to broadband at home.
It will specifically target families that have home internet access but do not use the technology for their children’s benefit; can afford access but do not think technology has educational value; cannot afford home access or need support in obtaining it.
It will make England one of the first countries in the world where every young person can use a computer and internet at home for their education. The home access programme forms part of Next Generation Learning, which promotes the best use of technology in learning. The programme is run by Becta, the Government education technology agency.
